Would Jew Believe: High Holiday Edition

Some fascinating facts about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The high holidays are upon us. We Jews worldwide gather together to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and God’s creation of the world and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Together, they comprise some of the most sacred events in the Jewish calendar. The following are some fascinating facts and customs related to the awesome period.

Kreplach believe it or not, is a metaphor, meaning that God’s strict justice will be tempered on side of mercy.

UNITED NATIONS RECOGNITION OF YOM KIPPUR?

In May of 2014 a strong movement was afoot asking the U.N. to recognize Yom Kippur as an official U.N. holiday. While the relationships between Israel and the U.N. has at times been dicey, nevertheless among the 10 official holidays, Christmas and Good Friday and the Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are recognized and Yom Kippur was not. Indeed, events were often scheduled during the High Holy Days, which many feel was a slap in the face to those who celebrate our highest of holidays. Thirty-two countries wrote on behalf of the proposal to the General Assembly, saying, the U.N. "recognizes the major festivals of many of the world's main religions, yet Judaism is not represented” and "We believe that the United Nations calendar should reflect the organization's founding principles of coexistence, justice and mutual respect. We urge the United Nations to correct this inequity and recognize the holiest day of the Jewish faith."

What happened? You tell me: “General Assembly January 2015: Sixty-ninth session (A/res/69/250), Article 5: [The United Nations] acknowledges that Yom Kippur is a significant local holiday which is observed in the host city of the Headquarters of the United Nations, invites United Nations bodies at Headquarters and other duty stations where observed to avoid holding meetings on Yom Kippur, and in this regard encourages this arrangement be taken into account when drafting future calendars of conferences and meetings.” Did you know that Yom Kippur was “Local to Manhattan” and members are “invited” not to meet? Wow. In addition to the many languages spoken at the U.N. we also have “government-ese” – an odd, razor sharp lingo designed to make things unintelligible. After giving up, I finally called and spoke to a U.N. Librarian from Ethiopia. I asked her simply: “Do you work on Yom Kippur?” Her answer? “Yes.”

KREPLACH: MEATY & MEANINGFUL

Kreplach, an Ashkenazi Yom Kippur Eve tradition, is a meat-filled dough, often used in soups, yet it has a deeper significance. The filling symbolizes justice, while the dough connotes compassion. Kreplach then is a metaphor, meaning that God’s strict justice will be tempered on side of mercy.

TALK ABOUT MAZEL

The day before Rosh Hashanah, in 1280, an early mystic, Abraham Abulafia, was intent on converting Pope Nicholas III to Judaism, so the Pope could partake in the celebration. It seems the Pope wasn’t exactly thrilled when he learned of Abulafia’s plan, and sentenced him to be burned at the stake. But ... before they lit the match, the Pope suddenly died. As for Abulafia, he didn’t win … but he lived.

COME BLOW YOUR HORN

1. Guinness World Records: Shofars have long inspired competition, given its sound and importance. In fact, the shofar sounds an amazing 100 times on Rosh Hashanah. On September 21, 2014, a group shofar blast, organized by the Partnership of Jewish Learning and Life in Whippany, N.J gathered 1,022 people who blew the tekiyah, sh'varim, and teruah sounds on their own shofar – and made history by being the largest shofar ensemble.

2- Horns by the One Ginormous Mammal: The Shofar is made from different animal horns, most often the ram, sheep, or goat. The Yemenite shofar, that accompanied these Jews from Africa, dwarfs the others with its spiraling and size given the mammal it comes from: The African Kudo. Found in Eastern and southern Africa, it tips the scale at 600 pounds!

3. The Liberty Bell Connection and Yom Kippur: The shofar appears a whopping 69 times in the Torah, but WouldJew believe it is also found on the historic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia Pennsylvania? America’s founding fathers inscribed the Biblical phrase ““Proclaim liberty throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25) on the historic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Writes Rabbi Jack Abramowitz of the OU, “The shofar is normally blown on Rosh Hashana. In the Jubilee year – the fiftieth year, following seven Sabbatical cycles – it was also blown on Yom Kippur. The purpose of this shofar blast was to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

The portion from Leviticus was cast on the Liberty Bell in 1753.

“You shall proclaim with shofar blasts, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement, you shall sound the shofar throughout your land. And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live on it. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and you shall return, each man to his property, and you shall return, each man to his family.”

About the Author

Quirky, no-nonsense, funny, Marnie – writer, editor, author, lecturer, clinician, and administrator -- is a straight-shooter, who has a distinctive voice and takes on the world in her columns, features, and books. Her advice column was syndicated through Tribune Media Services, and it currently appears in Singular magazine as Singular Solutions. Marnie has written over 20 books/calendars, including the series “A Little Joy, A Little Oy." Her books include Yiddishe Mamas: The Truth About the Jewish Mother and A Little Joy, A Little Oy (pub. AndrewsMcMeel). She is also an award-winning “calendar queen” having written over 20. She has been nominated for both an Emmy and Writers Guild award.Thefullwiki.org has listed Marnie Macauley on their list of top Jewish_American writers, dead or living. (She’s still deciding which.) She was also chosen as a Distinguished Woman in Las Vegas in March of 2014.

My nephew is having his bar mitzvah and I am thinking of a gift. In the old days, the gift of choice was a fountain pen, then a Walkman, and today an iPod. But I want to get him something special. What do you suggest?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Since this event celebrates the young person becoming obligated in the commandments, the most appropriate gift is, naturally, one that gives a deeper understanding of the Jewish heritage and enables one to better perform the mitzvot! (An iPod, s/he can get anytime.)

With that in mind, my favorite gift idea is a tzedakah (charity) box. Every Jew should have a tzedakah box in his home, so he can drop in change on a regular basis. The money can then be given to support a Jewish school or institution -- in your home town or in Israel (every Jews’ “home town”). There are beautiful tzedakah boxes made of wood and silver, and you can see a selection here.

For boys, a really beautiful gift is a pair of tefillin, the black leather boxes which contain parchments of Torah verses, worn on the bicep and the head. Owning a pair of Tefillin (and wearing them!) is an important part of Jewish identity. But since they are expensive (about $400), not every Bar Mitzvah boy has a pair. To make sure you get kosher Tefillin, see here.

In 1944, the Nazis perpetrated the Children's Action in the Kovno Ghetto. That day and the next, German soldiers conducted house-to-house searches to round up all children under age 12 (and adults over 55) -- and sent them to their deaths at Fort IX. Eventually, the Germans blew up every house with grenades and dynamite, on suspicion that Jews might be in hiding in underground bunkers. They then poured gasoline over much of the former ghetto and incinerated it. Of the 37,000 Jews in Kovno before the Holocaust, less than 10 percent survived. One of the survivors was Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who later published a stirring collection of rabbinical responsa, detailing his life-and-death decisions during the Holocaust. Also on this date, in 1937, American Jews held a massive anti-Nazi rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Love comes from "giving to someone." When you do altruistic acts of kindness, you are giving the other person part of yourself. You will therefore feel love for the recipient of your acts of kindness - because you will find yourself included in the other person and you will identify with him. Just as you love yourself, so too will you love the other person.

The ultimate level to strive for is that even if someone wrongs you, you will view it the same as if someone's right hand accidentally cut their own left hand. Of course while you will try to prevent this from happening, you will not take revenge on your own hand!!

The degree of love as you have for yourself is the degree of love we should have for others.

Today, think of a specific person who would gain greatly from your being more giving. (If you can't think of anyone, that person might be you...)

Although actions generally have much greater impact than thoughts, thoughts may have a more serious effect in several areas.

The distance that our hands can reach is quite limited. The ears can hear from a much greater distance, and the reach of the eye is much farther yet. Thought, however, is virtually limitless in its reach. We can think of objects millions of light years away, and so we have a much greater selection of improper thoughts than of improper actions.

Thought also lacks the restraints that can deter actions. One may refrain from an improper act for fear of punishment or because of social disapproval, but the privacy of thought places it beyond these restraints.

Furthermore, thoughts create attitudes and mindsets. An improper action creates a certain amount of damage, but an improper mindset can create a multitude of improper actions. Finally, an improper mindset can numb our conscience and render us less sensitive to the effects of our actions. We therefore do not feel the guilt that would otherwise come from doing an improper act.

We may not be able to avoid the occurrence of improper impulses, but we should promptly reject them and not permit them to dwell in our mind.

Today I shall...

make special effort to avoid harboring improper thoughts.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...